


Not Quite As Expected

by katamariofsoul



Category: Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, It depends on the character tbh, Original Character(s), mild to explicit language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2018-05-30 22:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6444310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katamariofsoul/pseuds/katamariofsoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes things don't go quite as intended. Sometimes, there's a timeline where more than one person is present to awaken the team. And sometimes those persons all get zapped with the Power Primate. </p>
<p>Oops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone. Yeah, I know, another fic from me when my last one isn't even close to done. What a surprise. Hopefully this one has better luck! Feel free to leave any form of feedback you want. Every little bit helps.

“Ugh…” Sprx muttered as he woke inside the pod, rubbing at his head, wincing at the light, “Damn, I thought Gibson said this would be painless.”

“I said _relatively_ painless.” The red monkey looked up, vision coming in to focus to see his blue teammate, holding a hand out. “We’re talking about decades long stasis after all, Sprx. You should be glad your muscles didn’t wither away to nothing.”

Sprx rolled his eyes as he took the hand, “Yeah yeah.” He grunts a bit as he was pulled out, wobbling a bit as he steps out. He looks around, to see if the others were out, and freezes as he sees Nova crouched over someone. Someone way too big to be one of them. It... looks like a human. A kid. Male from the looks of things. “Who-?”

He pauses as he realizes there are two other figures in similar positions, Antauri crouched next to one of them, another kid, also male.

Gibson sighs, “One of them woke us up.” He quickly explains as he walks over to what looked like a girl, also a kid.

Sprx looks around, noticing that all of the pods were empty. “Wher-“

“Otto is in the med bay, getting it ready.” Antauri says as he looks at the boy’s head.

“I wanted to make sure there was nothing immediately wrong with them, before we brought them there.” Gibson explains.

Sprx is still confused, but he nods, “Okay so… why are they passed out?” He asks, looking over at Nova.

She shrugs, but Antauri answers, “Because Sprx… one of these children is our destined leader.”

* * *

 

It was a nice day in Shuggazoom, all things considered; it was a warm spring day, getting close to the start of summer, not too hot, not too cold. It was the perfect day for a walk, something one boy named Chiro was all too glad to take advantage of. It was something he did often, wandering along the edges of the city, looking for something interesting. Technically speaking, he wasn't _supposed_ to be doing it, but hey, he hadn't been caught yet.

It was as he made his way towards the edges of the city, taking his usual route, that he heard someone running up behind him. "Chiro!" He stopped and looked back to see a girl he recognized.

"Rio?" The black haired girl was actually quite a bit taller than him, being almost six feet tall at 14 years old, and looked down at him as she got up to him. "Uh... what's up?" The two knew each other from the orphanage where they both lived, having been residents for almost a year now, although they rarely interacted.

The orphanage in question was actually fairly small, all things considered, only a couple dozen kids, on other planets it would be considered a large group home; Shuggazoom was an affluent enough city-planet that children were rarely abandoned, and those that were tended to be quickly adopted. Most of the orphanage kids were either past the age where most considered adopting, no longer being 'cute', or were troublemakers. Chiro was the first category, whereas Rio was in both, from what he had heard about her behavior.

Indeed, the girl was kind of glaring at him as she panted a bit from running. "You're taking me with you today." She said, grabbing Chiro's arm.

"W-What?!" He exclaimed, more than a little bit weirded out by her behavior. "Why?" He paused, and tried to shake her off his arm. "And you don't even know where I'm going."

Rio raised an eyebrow, "Chiro. Everyone with a brain at that stupid place knows you wander the outskirts of the city. They just don't feel like bothering with punishing you." She let go of him and crossed her arms.

"Oh..." Chiro blushed a bit in embarrassment, having thought he was being all cool and secretive this entire time. "You didn't answer my first question though, why do you want to come?"

A snort, and Rio made a very frustrated sound. "The stupid day manager won’t stop hounding me about my grades ever since my last report card came in.”

“Oh yeah, we got those back this week, huh?” Chiro never paid very much attention to his grades, he was a pretty average student… as long as he studied on stuff he had trouble with, he got average marks; at the very least enough that no one at the orphanage ever bothered him too much. You had to be in serious trouble with your academics for them to start actually doing something about it, from what he knew… which didn’t spell well for Rio. “So uh…”

“Come on, let’s go. They won’t think to look for me out there.” Rio began to walk off, and Chiro sighed and followed after her, taking the lead before long.

"So where are we going exactly? Do you have like, a route you take or what?" She asked as they made it past the last bits of city, and started upon the first bits of wilderness.

Chiro shook his head as he hopped over a fallen log, Rio doing the same, "Nah, I just like to explore really. Figured I'd take-" He paused as he spotted something moving a little ways away.

"What?" Rio asked, first looking at Chiro and then to where he was looking. Way too big to be a squirrel or anything like that, but the trees obscured it's shape. "A deer maybe?" She whispered, only ever having seen one at the zoo.

Chiro doubted it; although it was rumored that a few of them still wandered the Shuggazoom wilderness, he certainly hadn't seen one in his few months of exploring.

Whatever, or whoever, it was, it was moving away from them, slowly disappearing from view.

"Let's go after them." Whispered Rio, Chiro nodding without objection. If there was one thing neither of them had an abundance of, it was caution.

They spent several minutes tracking the figure, both of them trying to be stealthy as possible as to not scare; although the increasingly thick underbrush ensured that they had to take the same narrow path that their quarry was, and made it difficult to make the figure out.

It was almost 15 minutes later that they finally caught up, both surprised to recognize who it was. "Raf?!" Rio exclaimed, the short, stocky boy in question turning around, his headphone cord whipping about a little.

"Oh... hi there." He muttered as he removed his headphones, a rather tired look on his face.

“What are you doing out here?” Chiro asked, looking around the small clearing they were in.

Raf shrugged slightly, giving his nose a wipe with his sleeve as he sniffled. “Just walking.” He looked sick, his normally dark skin looking pale.

Rio glanced at Chiro, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, before looking back at Raf. “Why out here?” She asks.

Chiro had to admit, she had a good point. He only barely knew Raf, even less than Rio, the boy only having arrived at the orphanage a couple months ago; but from what he knew about him, he didn’t seem the type to come out here on his own.

Again, Raf gave a shrug, “It’s quiet.” He said simply, not seeming to care or notice that his short answers appeared to be making the other two slightly uncomfortable.

“So uh…” Chiro wasn’t quite sure what to say next, Raf had this kinda empty look on his face, one that said all attempts at conversation would end as quickly as they had been.

Just then, the relative silence between them was suddenly cut by a loud clanging noise in the near distance, contrasting sharply against the chirping of the birds and rustling of leaves. “What the?” Rio looked towards where it had come from, there was nothing but trees that way that blocked the view.

“Is there another person out here?” Chiro asked, knowing that they were far enough away from the city, that there wasn’t anything that would make that sound out here.

Rio glanced over at him and Raf, “Well… let’s go find out.” She started off, Chiro glancing at Raf for a moment before following. Raf himself stood there for a few seconds before slowly following.

Taking his time, Raf almost lost the two as they made their way through the undergrowth, no natural path for them here. It was a couple of minutes before the trees began to disperse.

“Holy Shuggazoom.” Chiro whispered as he came into the clearing, Rio right behind him, whose eyes went wide as they too saw what Chiro was looking at. Right in the middle of the clearing, which was more a field it was so large; stood a giant robot.

Raf came stumbling out behind them, seeming a little winded, “You know, you guys could wait up a…” He too froze as he saw it.

They stood there for a few moments, silent, taking in what stood before them. It was enormous, easily the height of most buildings in Shuggazoom, not to mention blocky looking, all sharp corners. It had clearly been here for quite some time, judging by the amount of growth covering it, vines and moss encasing most of its feet.

“Is this thing even real?” Rio asked, snapping the other two out of their thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Chiro was confused, it sure looked real to him.

“I mean… this isn’t like, a prank or anything? Right?” She glanced over at Chiro, who had a look on his face, “Oh, don’t look at me like that, it’d be less weird than actually finding a giant robot out here.”

Raf stepped forward a bit, closer to them, “…why didn’t we spot it earlier?” The two looked at him, confused, and he continued, “I mean… it’s so tall, we aren’t _that_ far from the city, if not us, someone should’ve spotted it a while ago.”

Both Rio and Chiro, thought about this for a moment, and soon seemed extra confused, realizing Raf was right. “Maybe I was right then… could be a hologram or something that got put here just a few minutes ago.” Rio said.

Chiro promptly bent down and picked up a small rock, tossing it at the robot’s left foot; it hit the plating with a loud clang. “Well, that’s definitely not a hologram.”

Rio glared at him a little bit, and seemed ready to mouth off at him before Raf spoke up. “Uh… guys.” He was pointing at the robot, a small ways away from where the rock had hit, there seemed to now be a small gap open, a large panel that covered the front of the robot’s foot seeming to have come unhinged.

Chiro seemed a bit embarrassed, and in all honesty, a bit frightened. “Oops.” He laughed nervously.

Before they could do anything else, the panel make a loud creaking and groaning noise, before suddenly dropping down to the ground with a very loud, echoing clang.

Once more, all three froze for a few moments, waiting for the dust kicked up to settle. When it did, they could see that the large panel had fallen way and appeared to be more of a door actually, still attached at the bottom by some hinges. The inside looked mostly dark, although sunlight provided some illumination.

Rio let out a whistle, “Damn.” She said as she started to step forward, Chiro following only a moment after.

Raf hesitated, however, “Uh… guys?”

The two looked back at him, “What?” Rio asked, looking annoyed almost.

Chiro smiled as he looked back, “Don’t worry Raf, we’ll be careful.” He pulls a small pocket light out of his pants pocket, “And I’ve got this to help. You shouldn’t worry so much.”

Raf thought there were plenty of reasons to worry. After all, that door had collapsed rather easily, what was to stop the rest of the robot from doing so while they were inside? And who knew what exactly _was_ inside anyway? Instead of voicing these thoughts however, he sighed a little and slowly followed them.

What awaited them inside, matched what was suggested by the outside. Metallic in nature, everything had a layer of dust collecting on it that seemed to be several years thick, if not more. “It’s musty as heck in here.” Chiro says as he covers his mouth a bit.

“You can say that again.” Rio nods in agreement, while Raf coughs heavily as he tries to cover his mouth as well.

What was surprising for them, however, was that it didn’t appear to be completely dead; every room they entered seemed to have emergency lighting, casting everything in a dim red light.

“How long has this thing been here?” Chiro asked as he poked around, looking for the way to the next room.

“The hell should I know?” Rio asked as she noticed that there were some chairs in the room, which seemed a bit too small for the average person.

Raf kept silent as he looked around, occasionally looking at a panel that would go to a computer, wondering how one would turn them on.

Eventually they neared what they figured was probably the center of the massive robot. “We should head back soon…” Muttered Raf, having gotten sick of the occasional creaking of metal that kept freaking him out.

Chiro thought about it for a second, but Rio didn’t, snorting a bit as she continued, “Whatever, we can keep going for a little while longer. You can’t tell me you’re not curious.”

Raf was silent, the look on his face suggesting, no, he wasn’t all that curious, at least not enough to risk death. Chiro gave him a sympathetic look, “Look, we’ll jus-“

“Guys, come check this out!” Rio’s voice rang out from the next room, both of them turning. After a moment processing, Chiro quickly made his way towards the room; Raf following after a few seconds later.

What they saw, astonished them both. “Whoa…” Chiro whispered as he walked towards where Rio was, eyes transfixed on the center of the room, Raf taking his time as he did the same.

In the center of the room, laid something that the three found just as mysterious as the robot they had stumbled upon, perhaps even more so. A series of five tubes, all lined up in a row, dim lights coming from them, small figures within. They were each a different color; red, yellow, green, blue, and a very dark purple, almost black.

“What are they?” Asked Rio as she tried to squint for a better view of them, the figures difficult to make out in the dim light, the slightly tinged glass.

“They’re small but… they look like they’re wearing armor?” Raf seemed unsure as he approached one of them slowly, clearly hesitant. “I… they look like monkeys.”

“What?” Rio said in a very incredulous tone, “You mean like at the zoo?”

Raf gave her a look that seemed to ask why he’d be joking at a time like this, but he spotted Chiro behind her, looking really out of it. “Chiro?”

Rio looked behind her, to see Chiro, eyes locked with the five tubes, a very vacant look on his face. “Chiro, you okay?”

Just as she asked this, he started walking towards them, startling both of them.

“Uhh…” Raf was confused to say the least, as was Rio, who put a hand on Chiro’s shoulder, only for him to keep walking.

The two watched him for a moment, until they saw he was walking towards something right before the center tube. It appeared to be a large switch. Both of them panicked, not quite knowing what was going on, but having a very bad feeling about it.

“Chiro!” Rio cried out as they ran towards him, both managing to grab him just as he pulled the switch.

A bright flash of light crossed all of their visions, and everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, so you're probably wondering what the hell took so long? Well, in short, I'm horrible at this, but also because I gave myself a self imposed rule of only posting a chapter if the next one was finished. So... yeah. Hopefully it won't take OVER A YEAR next time.
> 
> In the mean time, enjoy if for some reason you like this.

 “You’re sure?” Sprx asked Antauri, as he watched Gibson start to inspect the kids more properly, now that they had them all in the med bay. “I mean, they’re kids. I’m not super familiar with humans, I’ll admit, but they can’t be older than what… 16?”

Otto and Nova had already headed out, having dropped the kids off. Otto said it was his job more than anyone’s to make sure the robot was still working right, so he went off pretty much right away to check on things, but not before Nova said she’d help him and went with, seeing as it might be a big job.

Antauri all but sighed as he looked over at Sprx, clearly wishing the red monkey had joined them, or at least gone off to do something else. Not that he didn’t understand Sprx’s position, but this wasn’t the best time. “Yes Sprx, I am quite positive.”

Sprx wasn’t exactly satisfied by that answer judging by the look on his face, “How? I mean, you never really went in depth with that prophecy you know all about. Did the monks show you a freaking photo or something?”

The black monkey actually sighed this time, “No Sprx, it was not quite so simple. It was a vision that they were able to show me. It was not what one who is unfamiliar with such practices would easily be able to decipher.”

“Well then what makes you think it’s one of them?” The pilot asked, still not satisfied, “Cause from what you’re saying, you might have well as told me, ‘I’ve got a feeling’.”  
  
Antauri began to walk over to the three as Gibson finished checking one of them. “Because the chosen one will be there when we awaken from a long slumber. And they will be able to harness the power primate.” He smirked slightly, although it looked somewhat sad. “It was vague enough that, at the time, the mystics believed that it was referring to Mandarin, and an event that had not happened yet. Even I thought likewise until…” He felt no need to finish his sentence.

Gibson chose this point to speak up, as he looked back at the two from the console where he had entered the results of his basic examination. “You do realize you have yet to inform us which of the three it is, correct? Or did that slip past your mind in the commotion?”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a few moments, until Sprx, having been staring at Antauri, exclaimed, “You don’t know!?”

Antauri looked frustrated as he took a deep breath, “No. Not yet that is. They all obviously qualify for the first criteria. As for the power primate, it seems there was a large surge of it when we were awoken, I could still sense it when I woke, lingering in the air. It has in essence, charged the children with it, and currently flows inside them.”

Gibson turned back to the three with a worried look, “…I’m not sure what the effects that would have on a human.”

“It will not.” Antauri answered, looking confident this time. “Any normal being, when exposed to the power primate, is unaffected unless a will to harm is used to direct it. It will drain from them after a time, but the chosen one will retain theirs; their capacity to channel and produce it awakened.”

“So…” Sprx did ran it over in his head, making sure he understood it. “Once it drains we’ll just be able to tell?”

The doctor looked over the three, still unconscious for the time being. “You didn’t say how long that would take. Or is that something else you don’t know?”

"I am afraid that, yes, that is something I cannot say for certain. It can vary wildly depending on the individual, and I have seen it so infrequently, that I have yet to see any method to determine it." He said bluntly, Gibson sighing slightly and Sprx rolling his eyes.

"So then what do we do with 'em?" Sprx asked, jabbing his thumb back at them. "Just observe them like one of Gibson's lab rats?"

Antauri glared slightly at the pilot, "I am suggesting nothing so unethical Sprx. Although we should observe them, yes, we should treat them as individuals with their own rights, not 'lab rats', as you so bluntly put."

Sprx just stared back for a few moments, before grunting in annoyance and turning around. "Fine, whatever. I'm gonna go see if Otto or Nova need any help." He left without saying anything else, the door shutting behind him.

Antauri stood there for a moment, eyes closed, as if concentrating on something. Gibson broke him out of it, "So, I do have one more question for you Antauri. Humans can't understand us, last time I checked. How will we communicate with them?" He asked, the more important underlying question being; 'How do we stop them from panicking when they wake up?'

The black monkey smiled slightly, "Those in possession of the power primate are able to understand all others who also possess it. They will understand us perfectly fine." For the moment at least. The two who weren't chosen would lose the ability with the power.

Gibson nodded, “Good, because the scans I have of them indicate they should be waking any moment now.” He said, their brain waves having been indicating stage 1 sleep for a few minutes now.

Both of them looked at the three, Antauri noticing that, one of them, the female, had shifted position since he last was looking.

Gibson opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it without a sound as one of the boys, the one with paler skin and messy hair, made a grunting noise and moved his arms a bit, before suddenly sitting up. “Wha-?!”

He still seemed extremely disoriented, if panicked, rubbing his eyes as he looked about. The noise he was making caused the other two to wake, the girl suddenly flipping over from lying down to swinging her legs over the edge of her berth, “I'm up!” She lazily shouted, seemingly not aware of her surroundings at the moment, especially judging by her panicked yelp as she opened her eyes, seeing Antauri right there.

The last boy was still lying down, when the loud thump of the girl falling back onto the floor apparently forced him awake, his eyes slowly opening as he yawned.

“Children.” Antauri's voice was forceful and filled the room, cutting through the sounds of panic, but still managed to not sound like he was yelling, or even all that loud.

The three quieted as Gibson idly watched on, somewhat afraid to make his presence known and reignate panic in the situation. Not to say the three were calm, just that no one was shouting or the like.

The girl was panting as she rose from the floor, her hands on the berth to steady herself, “The hell?!” She exclaimed, quickly followed by a firm, agreed nod from the paler boy, who stood up from his berth.

“Y-Yeah, what's going on here?” He said, clearly a bit frightened but still standing firm, refusing to back down in spite of having no idea of what he was currently facing.

The last boy, who Gibson had noted was wearing glasses, was completely silent as the other two stared at Antauri, clearly not quite as willing to put himself forward as the other two, having seemed to shrunk in on himself in fear.

“It is okay, you can calm down, I mean no harm.” Antauri said, holding his hands up to try and signal for peace. The girl and the boy seemed to stand down for the moment, their poses not quite as defensive as before, where as the glasses boy seemed slightly less frightened.

“Then who… what… are you? Huh?” The girl asked, almost snapping, her stare at the black monkey still holding.

“And you didn't answer my first question.” The boy added, now standing up straight, looking more collected.

Meanwhile, the other boy had uncurled and slid off of his berth, standing, if still looking nervous. He started to look about the room, pausing as he spotted Gibson, who waved slightly with a polite smile.

“I am Antauri. I am the second in command of the monkey team, and I am as I appear, a robot monkey.” Well, technically cybernetic, but Gibson was the only one who insisted to argue that point, the rest of the team essentially agreeing that 'robot' was easier to say. “As for what is going on… you three seemed to have woken us up.”

“Team?”

“Us?” The girl and boy said almost simultaneously, confused.

The other boy finally spoke up, “Uh… you guys were the ones in the tubes?” He asked, voice still rather quiet, as he looked back and forth between Gibson and Antauri, the other two now aware of the blue monkey after having glanced back at the glasses boy.

Gibson stepped forward with his best polite and welcoming smile, “That is correct.” He said slowly, not wanting to sound too excited or anything. “I am Dr. Hal Gibson by the way, but just call me Gibson. Sorry for not making my presence known sooner, I wasn't wanting to panic you three any more than you already were.”

The girl still seemed a bit on edge, but the other boy… this was getting slightly confusing, Gibson was hoping they learned their names soon, was more relaxed now. “So, why were we asleep?” He asked.

“Quite simply, the process that that awakened us, which one of you started, also released a surge of energy. It caused you three to pass out." Antauri explained.

“One of us?” Asked the girl, looking unconvinced. “The last thing I remember is walking into this… huge robot. We didn't do that.”

Gibson hummed slightly, thinking, “Well, often when knocked unconscious, people are often unable to remember up to several minutes before the event. Their-”

“The brain doesn't transfer the memory from short term to long term memory if you're passed out, so it kind of vanishes.” The glasses boy suddenly blurted out, shrinking back again in embarrassment as everyone looked at him, surprised. “S-Sorry.”

“No, it's fine, you're completely correct.” Gibson said, smiling quite happily, gladly surprised to meet someone who actually knew that.

Antauri was a bit miffed by that, if only because it meant the children wouldn't be able to tell them who pulled it and make the process that much easier. Regardless, he shouldn't let it bother him too much, “If you do not mind me asking, what are your names?”

“I'm Rio.” The girl spoke first, sighing a bit, still on edge clearly, but no longer actively mistrusting them.

The more confident boy followed, “Chiro.” He was smiling now. “It's nice to meet you.”

“I'm Rafael, and uh… same as Chiro said.” The boy was still clearly uncomfortable, but didn't seem actively scared anymore.

“A pleasure.” Said Antauri, bowing his head slightly, Gibson following suit.

“So why didn't you take us to a hospital?” Rio asked a few moments later, “I mean, you're not exactly human doctors.”

Gibson suddenly snorted, “I will have you know young lady, that the 'doctor' part of my name is not for show, I have a doctorate from Ophiuchus University!” He seemed honestly offended.

“Oh, uh, thanks. You didn't find anything wrong, did you?'” Chiro asked.

Gibson was silent for a few moments, “...Not per say.” He finally said, a rather obvious 'I don't want to say', couched in his words.

“What's that mean?” Rio glared at him.

Antauri spoke up, “What Gibson refers to is the power primate that resides in you three now. It is what caused you to pass out, as well as what is allowing you to understand us.”

The three were obviously confused now, once again, although they weren't panicking this time at least.

“Power?” Chiro looked at himself, noting that he did feel funny, but just thought that was from him being out until a bit ago.

“It lets us understand you? That's…“ Rafael seemed to have trouble grasping that, so he moved on for the moment, “Does it do anything else?”

Antauri nodded, very seriously. “Well, to put it bluntly, yes.” He took a deep breath, “In one of you it has awakened abilities. With which you will lead the team.”

All three of them fell still, looking at Antauri, mouths gaping, eyes wide in disbelief.

“WHAT?!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, doing this whole 'write one chapter ahead' thing is weird, this chapter's been done for 6 months. Might be helping though, seeing as I'm actually doing this... even if it's at a super slow pace. Oh well! Hope you guys enjoy chapter 3!

“Leader?! A-Are you serious?!” Chiro was clearly stunned, and slightly frightened to boot; not that he could be blamed. To just about anyone, this would be considered insane.

Rio raised her voice as she spoke, “Of course. I knew there was something else going on!” Although nervous like Chiro, there was anger in her voice, or at least the promise of violence should things go south.

“W-What?” Raf's voice was drowned out, quiet as he was. He seemed to be trying to process what was happening, still more taken aback then anything.

Well, it wasn't as if Antauri hadn't feared this might happen; as did Gibson judging by the look he gave him as he walked closer. “Was it really wise to tell them that quickly?”

Antauri frowned, “Are you suggesting I should have lied instead?” He spoke loudly enough for the three to clearly hear him, trying to capture their attention, as opposed to having them stew in their worry.

Both Chiro and Rio jumped at the chance, both trying to say something at once, pausing mid word as they heard the other. After quickly glancing at each other, Rio took the initiative and nodded at Chiro. “Okay, I'm gonna ignore how crazy this is for like a second, and just ask; what are you talking about?”

With a short sigh, Antauri nodded, smiling patiently. “Yes, I suppose this would seem quite bizarre to you three. Perhaps a more detailed explanation of the situation would be in service.”

Gibson didn't seem quite so certain, “Shouldn't we get the others in here at least, Antauri?” He asked.

“What others?” Chiro asked. “How many of you guys are there?”

Antauri swiftly explained, “Aside from Gibson and myself, there are three other members of the team. Sparx, Otto, and Nova. After the robot being in a shutdown state for as long as it had been, and not wishing to overwhelm you three when you awoke, we decided to have them focus on inspecting the entirety of the robot for needed repairs.”

“And you're all… monkeys?” Raf asked, the most obvious conclusion, even if he found it insane.

“Correct.” Antauri nodded before continuing, “Now then, as for what I meant earlier...”

* * *

 

“...And again, we will not force you to join us in any way. That would defeat the entire purpose. I do have faith, however, that you will realize it is the right choice.”

It didn't take as long as Gibson had been fearing, for Antauri to explain the basics of the situation, and in the process, determining that it had been about 50 years since they went into stasis.

“What surprises me, is how none of you ever heard of us.” Gibson said, “50 years isn't enough for society to suddenly forget something like that.”

Rio shrugged, “I mean, I'd heard a few stories over the years, but I never really paid close attention. It seemed too crazy. Plus monkeys weren't ever really mentioned.”

Both Antauri and Gibson nodded silently, understanding that part well enough. Mandarin had essentially forbid them from interacting with the citizens, and they rarely had any reason to leave the robot.

“What about you two?” Gibson asked, looking at Chiro and Raf, both of whom suddenly seemed uncomfortable.

“I uh… only moved to Shuggazoom a couple years ago.” Raf muttered, tapping his fingers together.

Chiro nodded, “Yeah, pretty much the same.”

“Well, that does explain it.” Gibson said, just before the pneumatic hiss of the door opening, caught their attention.

“Whoa! You didn't tell me they were up already!” The three humans were startled by the sudden entrance of a green monkey; looking extremely happy, in spite having a fair bit of what looked like oil splattered over him.

Gibson groans slightly, “You do know that it is considered rude to enter without knocking, right?”

But the other didn't seem to notice what Gibson said, happily bounding into the room, grinning wide as he stopped in front of the three. “Name's Otto! I'm the mechanic of the team, nice to meet you all!” He looked back to Antauri and Gibson for a moment. “So… which one of them is it?”

“We do not know yet Otto. It will take time for that fact to reveal itself, as I had explained to them just a moment ago.” Antauri said, smiling at Otto in spite of his relative lack of manners, the mechanic being far too happy and kind for Antauri to begrudge him for it. “Where are Sparx and Nova?”

“Right here.” Came a reply from the hallway, the yellow monkey soon walking into the medbay, Sparx right behind her. “Otto ran ahead of us.” She explained, before waving at the humans. “I'm Nova.”

“Sparx.” The red pilot said with a little smirk, leaning against the wall by the door, “So who are you three?”

“Uh, hehe, I'm Chiro, nice to meet you guys.” Chiro extended his hand to Otto, who paused for a second, confused, before suddenly grabbing it with a grin.

“Right, that's something humans do!” He says, slowly and awkwardly shaking Chiro's hand, uncertain he was doing it right.

“Rio.” The girl said, giving a quick wave to the others, trying her best to be polite. She glanced over at Raf, who seemed to have forgotten himself until that moment.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I'm Rafael, but everyone just calls me Raf.” He still seemed uncomfortable, although more out of awkwardness than fear now.

“It's great to meet new people!” Otto exclaimed, still grinning, “Especially humans who can understand us, that's never happened before! It's cool to get to talk with you guys.”

Nova nodded with a smile of her own, “Yeah, hopefully we get along well.”

“So… what now?” The pilot asked a moment later. “Do we give them a tour of the robot or something?”

Gibson snorted slightly, a small laugh. “Well first, I imagine we should get these three in contact with their parents.” He turned to look at them expectantly, “I do hope they don't panic over this…” He sighed, not having thought about it until now.

But when none of the three spoke up, and all looking at best slightly uncomfortable now, Antauri raised a brow. “Is… that a problem?”

Rio shrugged, “None of us have parents. We all live in a big group home. So congrats, you don't have to worry about that.” She said it rather casually, flippantly almost.

The air of discomfort now spread to the monkeys, who fell silent for a moment.

Gibson spoke up first, “I… apologize for bringing that subject up. I had no idea and-”

Chiro shook his head quickly, “No, don't be sorry! I mean it's not like you knew.”

“Soooo...” Sparx said after another moment of uncomfortable silence, “What, do we just have these three move in or something? I mean we don't exactly have a lot of spare rooms.”

“We still have the home manager, I bet he would be a little freaked out if we didn't come back.” Chiro added. “So… I guess he’s the closest thing we have to a parent?”

Raf quickly nodded in agreement, having forgotten about him, “Y-Yeah, if we’ve been here for a few hours, he’s probably getting worried by now. We should get back there.”

Rio scoffed, “Please, I’ve been gone for a day before, he probably won’t notice.” She paused for a second, “…Then again, it’s three of us gone. That’s more likely to be noticed.”

Antauri cleared his throat, “It would sound to me that we should have you three return to the man for the time being. We can work out the situation with him once we get there.” He turned to the other monkeys. “I shall accompany the three, if that sits well with you all. The robot still needs work, so please continue it until I return.”

They all nodded in agreement, and after a bit more conversing, Antauri left with the three.

* * *

 

It was, admittedly a bit odd being back in Shuggazoom after so much time had passed. Antauri recognized most of the buildings, but there were enough changed that everything felt slightly off. He was glad, however, that the building the three were living in, was close to the city outskirts, and thus the robot. Even at this time of night, there were still a few people out on the streets, and nearly all of them had gawked upon seeing the cybernetic monkey walking with the three children.

Even more of a relief however, was how the caretaker of the three had reacted. Each of the children had seemed at least slightly nervous as to how they’d go about explaining it to the man, especially when Antauri reminded them that he wouldn’t actually be able to talk with the man, and would need them as a go between.

Although he had seemed peeved when he first spotted them, apparently waiting for them to show, any words he had been about to give them died in his throat when he spotted Antauri in the middle. Before any of the three could even get a sentence out, he was ushering them inside, bringing them into a small office room just a little past the front door, a nameplate on the door, ‘Mr. Henderson’.

“Is that what… who, I think it is?” The man asked in a hushed tone. Judging by his looks, Antauri placed him as middle aged, although he wasn’t sure. Humans were difficult to tell sometimes. His hair was slightly graying, and his skin, a somewhat pale color, looked to have some wrinkles.

Rio answered first, “One of those robot monkeys? Yeah.” She smirked, looking a bit smug. Or maybe just relieved that this had distracted the man from lecturing them.

“I… I can’t believe it.” He said, staring at Antauri. “Never thought I’d see these guys again.” He laughed suddenly, an almost… giddy sound? “Wow, this is amazing. I must’ve been five when…” He trailed off for a moment, “These guys found you?” He asked him, the monkey somewhat surprised to be addressed.

Chiro spoke up, “He uh… can’t talk. Not to you at least. It’s kind of complicated.”

It took nearly half an hour for them to finally catch Mr. Henderson up on what was happening. And even then, Antauri wasn’t exactly sure the three had been able to properly convey to him what he’d been saying.

It didn’t seem to matter though, because the man was more than enthusiastic with what was happening, even ahead of them on one matter. “So, I’ll get some boxes so you guys can pack.”

They all were at least a bit surprised. “Just like that?” Chiro asked, watching as the man got up and began walking to the door.

“Of course!” He replied, a slight laugh, beckoning them to follow him into the hall. “Everyone’s already in bed, so don’t worry about them disturbing us, Mr. Antauri.” He said as they followed him, before opening a door to a storage closet, and emerging a few moments later with three empty boxes. “This should be enough for you three, I think.”

“Think so.” Rio said as they each took one, before turning to head down the hall. “It’ll probably take like a few minutes.”

Chiro was quick to head off as well, smiling at Antauri and his soon to be former guardian, “I’ll try and make it quick.”

Raf was silent for a moment, looking hesitantly between his box, and all the parties involved, before nodding a little, “Ok.” He simply said, before shuffling off.

Over the next several minutes, Antauri grew somewhat appreciative of the fact that he couldn’t properly communicate with most humans. Mr. Henderson chattered on quite a bit about how he was so amazed to know the team was going to be back in action, and how he’d been fond of them as a child; but at least he wasn’t expecting Antauri to respond to what he was saying.

Of course, even if the man hadn’t been talking his ears off, Antauri would still find this situation awkward. It was clear that, at the very least, Chiro and Raf were uncomfortable with what was happening, and he had a distinct feeling that Rio was merely better at hiding the same feelings.

Rio returned first, with Chiro a minute later; Raf took a fair bit longer, several minutes passing before he walked back down the hall. Notably, his box looked to be fuller than the other two.

After a series of short and relatively awkward goodbyes, Antauri and the three were out of the building, Mr. Henderson having promised to take care of any legal paperwork that might be needed. Rio let out a relieved sigh as they walked along the sidewalk. “Glad to be out of there. Never knew Henderson was such a big fan of you guys. Made things a lot easier, that’s for sure.”

Antauri raised a brow, “Did you really find living there to be so disagreeable?”

Chiro spoke up in turn. “I mean, it wasn’t that bad. But living in a giant robot sounds way cooler!” He was clearly excited about the idea, even if the change had been unexpected.

Rio shook her head slightly, “That place was a dump. You two just didn’t realize it yet cause you weren’t there long enough.”

The black monkey looked back at them. “Is that true?” He asked, curious. At the very least, after all, he wanted to get to know these children a bit.

Chiro nodded a little, “I mean, she’s right that I haven’t been there as long as her. I moved in like a year ago.” He looks over at Raf, “I think you moved in like six months ago, right?”

The other boy shrugged slightly, more focused apparently on carrying his box. “Five.” He murmured.

Antauri pursed his lips for a moment, before turning back around. He had a distinct feeling that this was going to all be rather… difficult.


End file.
